An Evening with Gulf Labor @ The New School

In 2009, Human Rights Watch published a report, detailing alarming labor conditions and human rights violations on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi where a new Guggenheim Museum was to be built, one of several international cultural institutions. In response, several dozen artists, curators and cultural producers launched the Gulf Labor Artist Coalition with the intention of protect the rights of the migrant workers during the construction of museums on Saadiyat Island. Among various initiatives – public programs, exhibitions such as participation in this year’s Venice Biennale, the artist platform 52 Weeks, and research trips to the Emirates but also the countries where some of the workers come from – most recently, Gulf Labor’s protest has taken the form of a publication, The Gulf: High Culture/Hard Labor.

This event features reports by Gulf Labor members Nitasha Dhillon, Mariam Ghani, Amin Husain, Andrew Ross and Gregory Sholette and focuses on the repercussions in the art world of oppressive labor policies in art institutions. On the occasion of the release of their book, The Gulf: High Culture/Hard Labor, they expand on the most recent research and its implication for the work of artists and cultural producers everywhere.

Hitler is discovered standing beside Jesus in a German church, the Guggenheim's labor practices in the Gulf are challenged, a legal mural of Mike Brown is removed by request of the Trenton police, and much more